Quadspiracy Theory: True
by JustVilda Potter
Summary: Go back to the episode Quadspiracy Theory. What if the quads were right, and Britt was an evil mastermind who tried to take over their lives? In this turn of events, Britt kidnaps the quads. With Dicky being in Australia, and everybody trusting Britt, how will this go for the quads?
1. Britt's List

**I don't have close to enough stories going on at the same time!**

_**Throw Fists, Get Switched**_

_**Oldest By Six Years**_

_**A Change of Lives**_

_**Two Oneshot Collections**_

_**Soon an ASOUE story**_

_**Now this story too!**_

**And there's another one coming soon! I hope you guys don't have anything against following multiple stories at once. Because if you do, it's your problem. I'ma keep swooshing out new stories before I finish other ones. BUT, that doesn't mean I'm discontinuing those stories. I'm just gonna write six stories at once, with a little schedule.**

**I've not set it up yet, but I will soon. You will know when I have.**

**Anyway! Now to this story!**

**This is an AU story, that was suggested by _Ryan Harper_. We're gonna go all the way back to the second last episode of the series; _Quadspiracy Theory_, and we're gonna look at it in a different perspective.**

_**What if Britt really was an evil mastermind?**_

* * *

"Really?"

"For us?"

"Whaaat?"

The quads showed how they were gonna act surprised at the surprise party Britt was throwing. Britt didn't tell them it was a good act; he didn't even look happy. He just looked at them, eyebrows pulled together, and his mouth slightly open.

"Oh," he voiced after a couple of seconds. "I think you've got it wrong."

The three quads exchanged a quick confused look.

"The party isn't for you," Britt continued cheerfully. "It's for Avery."

"Really?" Dawn let her hand fall off her hip.

"For Avery?" Nicky's face dropped.

"Whaaat?" Ricky said behind his gritted teeth.

"Her birthday's coming up," Britt shrugged. "So..."

"But we aren't on the guest list," Dawn reminded him, gesturing to the notebook.

Britt looked awkward for a moment.

"Sorry. If it's any consultation, it was a hard decision," he said, smiling with pinched lips and nodding.

Without any further apology, explanation or anything, he turned around and walked up the stairs, like nothing had even happened. The quads turned to look at each other. Ricky sighed loudly.

"I can't believe he's having a party and not inviting us."

"Well, at least we know he's not an evil mastermind trying to get rid of us," Dawn added as an attempt to lighten the mood at least a little. It didn't work.

Suddenly, Ricky bent over and picked something up from the coffee table. It was a little piece of light green paper from the paper block they had seen Britt carrying a round. Three lines were written on it in a scribbly hand writing.

"This to-do list fell out of Britt's backpack," Ricky clarified. He held the paper up in front of him and his siblings. "Number 1: Get rid of the quads."

They all looked up in horror.

"He _is _an evil mastermind trying to get rid of us!" Dawn cried out, realizing this horrible fact.

They all looked back down at the piece of paper, and read the following two lines.

"Wait," Ricky blurted after they read it. "Let's not jump to conclusions. _'Get rid of the quads' _could mean anything" He tried to convince himself, Nicky and Dawn.

"Number two is 'take over Get Sporty'," Dawn reminded him, not falling for Ricky's attempt one bit.

"And number three is 'celebrate'!" Nicky pointed to the note.

Ricky pinched his lips.

"Yeah, Britt wants us gone."

Nicky looked over at Dawn for a second to see if she had anything to give to the situation. She was just standing there with her hands on her hips, looking around the room trying to make sense out of something.

"What else is on that list?" Nicky asked, turning back to Ricky since Dawn was no help.

"Nothing," Ricky answered. "Why would he write anything after 'celebrate'?"

"Why would an evil mastermind write a list with only three things?" Nicky responded, making a point. "There's gotta be something on the back."

He reached his hand out to grab the paper, but Ricky pulled his hand away.

"There's nothing on the back."

"Is something we could say once we turn it over and look at the back!" Nicky made another attempt to get the note.

"I'm not turning it over!" Ricky said as he pulled it away from Nicky's reach again.

"Can you believe this guy?" Nicky asked.

He proceeded to attack Ricky in an attempt to get the note, which only led to Ricky putting it in the back of his pants. Nicky gave Ricky a dirty look.

"And now we'll never know."

"Who cares!?" Dawn shouted from her position where she had watched the cat fight. "We need to find a way to expose him."

"We need to figure out a way to get Britt to admit his diabolical plans in front of _everyone,_" Ricky continued Dawn's speech, not wanting to get attacked by Nicky again, all for a stupid note.

"We could do it at Avery's party!" Dawn suggested.

And that's exactly what they did...

In just a minute, they came up with their plan. Nicky found one of Dicky's dirty socks to make Britt pass out (Ricky was the test subject), and Dawn found some leftover creamy peanut butter that Nicky left on the counter after baking. When Ricky woke up, they found Squishy a shark suit (for very important, and legitimate reasons).

The next day, the plan was put into action.

* * *

The three quads quietly sneaked into Get Sporty through the back door. No one noticed them, since they were all working on setting up Avery's surprise party. The back door led into the kitchen, in which, conveniently enough, Britt was in, decorating the window into the café.

"Okay," Dawn mouthed to her brothers as they pressed themselves against the wall around a corner. "I'll get this to Britt, and when he's out, we carry him to the storage room."

Her whispering was so close to inaudible, that for every word she said, she had to gesture it as well.

"Got it?" she mouthed.

"Got it," Nicky and Ricky mouthed back.

Dawn moved away from the wall, and as quietly as possible, she approached their subject. He didn't even notice her while he put up some red garlands.

"Psst! Britt," Dawn hissed.

He turned around, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Hey Dawn," he happily greeted her.

_'So incredibly fake'_ was the thought running through Dawn's mind before she held up the white and orange stinky sock. Just by a small whiff of it, Britt fell to the ground.

"Action!" Dawn hissed to her brothers, who a second later came around the corner.

The three of them ducked down under the kitchen window, and picked up Britt by his ankles and wrists. While they discreetly carried him out of the kitchen, the boys quaked and Dawn rolled her eyes at them over and over because of their weakness. This way, they carried him past the partied up café, in behind the staircase, and into the storage room.

The very second Dawn kicked the door shut behind them, the boys let go and started shaking the pain off their arms.

"Seriously?" Dawn crossed her arms, and gave her brothers a disappointed look.

"He's heavy, okay?" Nicky made an excuse for them.

Dawn's simple response for that was to pick up the still asleep Britt on her own, without any problem. Without a word from the boys, she walked over and put Britt down on the chair they prepared.

"Tape," she demanded.

Nicky handed her a tiny roll of duct tape. Dawn let out a loud pronounced sigh, making sure the boys knew her frustration.

"Any _more _duct tape?" she suggested, making a little "gimme"-gesture with her hand.

"We don't have any more" Ricky said firmly.

"You said we had a roll!"

"That _is _a roll!"

Dawn sighed again, even more enunciated this time. She threw a glance around the room, and spotted a bag of white fabric ribbons in the corner.

"Get me that," she ordered, and Ricky sprinted over and grabbed them.

In a few minutes, Britt was tied to the chair. Nicky carefully applied the peanut butter to his feet, while Dawn dressed Squishy in the shark costume, calling him "_Sharky_", and Ricky kept the lookout position.

"All done!" Nicky announced after spreading the last spread on Britt's right foot.

They didn't need any communication to know what was next. So all three quads ran out of the storage room, past the staircase and into the café.

"Everyone! Stop what you're doing!" Dawn shouted as they entered the café.

All of the eyes in the little area were turned towards the quads.

"Britt isn't who he says he is!" Nicky started explaining, while Dawn confidently nodded. "He's actually an evil mastermind who came here to take over our lives!"

"_Your _lives?" Miles asked, and everyone in the café broke out into laughter.

"We knew you wouldn't believe us," Ricky stated. "So maybe you'll believe Britt himself."

He walked up to the laptop on one of the party tables, and quickly got himself into the camera system. The next second, the filming of Britt appeared on the screen behind him.

Everyone in the room immediately gasped at the sight of Britt all tied up in a chair.

"Britt!" Dawn shouted, and clapped her hands.

With a flinch Britt woke up, and blabbered some weird Australian phrase.

"Okay Britt! Reveal your evil plan," Nicky demanded.

"What's going on?" Britt looked around him at the ribbons tying him to the chair, and the camera and loudspeaker in front of him. He settled his eyes on the camera, as he figured that's where the quads saw him from. "I don't have an evil plan!"

"I knew you wouldn't admit it!" Dawn snapped at him. "Now things are about to get _ugly,_" she crossed her arms.

"What's that on his feet?" Mae pointed to Britt's feet, which obviously looked a bit weird.

"Peanut butter," Ricky ingeniously answered, trembling his fingers together like _he _had an evil plan.

"How did he step in peanut butter?" Natlee asked.

"Peanut butter stepped on him!" Nicky stated, even though it made no sense whatsoever.

After a short peanut butter conversation, Dawn called out _Sharky_. Squishy stepped into the video tape, dressed in the shark costume. He started licking Britt's feet, causing an inordinate amount of tickling, which in line, caused a lot of reflex laughter on Britt's part.

"Anything to tell us now, _mate_?" Nicky asked, mocking the Australian word for buddy.

"Fine! I admit it!" Britt laughed. "The truth is, the party isn't for Avery! It's for you!"

The quads' faces dropped. Britt continued on with a sweet little talk, which none of the quads believed.

"He's trying to trick you!" Nicky yelled.

"Well, Britt. If you really wanted to thank us for being part of this family, then what about your list!?" Ricky pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket.

Ricky questioned Britt on every point, and of course he had a good reason for all of them. In the next ten seconds, while the quads had a quick whisper-argument-conversation, Britt managed to slip out, and join the party.

"Surprise!" he shouted when he walked into the room, and after a quick explanation to how he got out, everything seemed great.

The quads were happy Britt wasn't an evil mastermind, and Britt was happy he was finally not seen as 'suspicious'. The thing was... that the quads didn't know the reason he was happy they didn't see him as suspicious.

* * *

About an hour and a half passed of the party. It truly was the best surprise party ever.

Nicky, Ricky and Dawn chilled on bar stools in the café, each of them holding a smoothie. Nicky and Dawn had their casual strawberry smoothies, and Ricky had one of his green tea with kale and an extra brain boost smoothies. They had just finished a facetime call with Dicky, who was currently in Australia, and were now just talking cheerfully. While they were happily sipping and talking, Britt came up behind them.

"Guys," he interrupted their conversation.

Each of the three quads turned on their chairs, and smiled happily at their housemate.

"Hey!" Dawn said, a smile crossing her face at once.

"There's one last surprise I've got in store for you in this store," Britt revealed.

The quads shared a quick look of excitement and anticipation, before jumping off their stools. Britt gestured for them to follow him, and they willingly did. He led them out of the café, past the staircase, and in behind it.

"I'm surprised you guys didn't notice it when you tied me in here," he said, scoffing in relief. "Surprised and relieved of course."

His hand landed on the doorknob to the storage room, and he opened it. With another gesture with his arms, he told the quads to go in. They did, and Britt leaned back against the doorway.

"What's in here?" Nicky excitedly asked.

"Look around a little," Britt instructed, and the quads did as he told.

They could spot nothing out of the ordinary though. Boxes, broken mannequins, dirt...

"Hey, do you still have that note?" Britt asked after a while.

"Your list?" Ricky turned his head to Britt, who nodded.

Ricky proceeded to pull it out from his back pocket.

"Turn it over," Britt continued.

"Why?" Ricky asked, still not wanting to, for unknown reasons.

"Just do it."

Ricky turned the note over, and was greeted by three words.

_Kidnap the quads._

Neither him, Dawn or Nicky got any time to even react before Britt turned the lights off, and slammed the door leaving them in darkness. A click sound a second later revealed he locked the door.

They had fallen for his plan...

* * *

**Yay for a reader-suggested story! I actually love this concept, and I hope all you readers are too!**


	2. Australian Bread

**Chapter 2 here we go! But first of course, ****Review Responses.**

_**HollyHook **_**\- Well, I'm glad you loved it!**

_**Ryan Harper**_** \- You might have felt like that because that was exactly what it was! I just watched the episode, and wrote the lines they said, adding a little more things (like how they got Britt to the storage room). Then BOOM! Surprise!**

**Story time! No more chit-chats!**

* * *

Dicky lay in his Australian bed, staring at the ceiling. He could see the entire ceiling from the spot he was lying in; the room was so small. It consisted of just a door, a closet, a desk, and the bed Dicky was lying on. It was extremely nice to have a room all for himself, but of course he had to admit he missed his siblings.

It was weird not sharing a room. There was a couple of other kids in the family he was staying with, but they all had a room for themselves.

The ceiling in Dicky's room was white. It was completely flat, and had a few questionable stains on it, which Dicky guessed were smashed flies (there was a fly swatter hanging on the doorknob). There was a tiny hole in one of the corners, and Dicky had seen a tiny spider crawl in and out of it several times. It certainly made him shudder every time it appeared. He didn't know if it was poisonous, as he didn't know any spider name except _tarantula_. A lamp hung in the middle of the ceiling, lighting up the room at times. Dicky hadn't gotten up today, so currently, the lamp wasn't luminous.

There was a sudden buzz coming from the pillow. Dicky twisted his head to look up there, and remembered that's where he put his phone. It was buzzing every few seconds, meaning a call was coming in.

As he hadn't moved in about nine hours (it was 6am in the morning, and he had just woken up), he uncomfortably stretched his arm out to grab it. His phone was adorned with an ugly picture of Dawn, and her name was spelled out under it (with seven _a's _instead of one). Dawn was calling him on facetime, so he pressed the green button, and held the phone out in front of him.

The smiling faces of his fellow quads looked back at him. A grin quickly found its way to his face as well.

"Hey Dicky!" said the three other quads.

"Hey," Dicky chuckled.

"You can _never _guess what just happened here?" Dawn excitedly said.

Dicky sat straight up. "You got a giant shipment of tutti frutti," he sharply guessed.

Silence came from the other quads.

"No...," Ricky's confused voice answered.

"Britt threw us a party!" Nicky revealed.

"A surprise party?" Dicky questioned, needing to know the important details.

"Totally a surprise party!" Dawn nodded intensively.

"We thought Britt was an evil mastermind who wanted to kidnap us," Ricky revealed, slightly embarrassed about it still.

"How do you know he isn't...?" Dicky suspiciously asked in a dramatic tone.

Silence again...

"Because he threw us a party...," Nicky said.

"Then why did you think he was evil?" Dicky asked, now very confused.

"Because he had a to-do list that said '_get rid of the quads, take over Get Sporty, celebrate_'," Dawn replied. "It was all just a _big _misunderstanding."

"Did it say anything on the back?" Dicky asked.

"We didn't look on the back," Ricky hastily replied, barely a second after Dicky's question.

"Why?" Dicky frowned.

"Yeah, why Ricky?" Nicky asked as well, and Dicky could see him irritably turning his head to Ricky.

"'Cause there's no need to check the back," Ricky answered.

"We can check the back now," Nicky suggested.

"I'm not checking the back!" Ricky snapped.

"Ooookay," Dawn interrupted. "We're gonna get smoothies now, so bye Dicky!"

"Byeeee," Nicky and Ricky joined in, and soon Dicky was also saying "bye", dragging the vocals out.

It stopped suddenly, when Dawn hung up. Not having anything else more fun to do, Dicky decided to keep on dragging the 'bye' out. He just sat on his bed, his mouth open slightly, and saying "_byeeeeee..._".

When he could barely breathe and started getting hoarse, he stopped. What was he supposed to do now? Get up?... Yeah, he got up. Giving a big yawn, he walked out of his room, and into the kitchen. The wife and mother of the family he was staying with was in there, cutting up a tomato for her breakfast sandwich (she worked early).

"Good morning, Dicky," she said when her American exchange student entered the room.

"Morning, Brittany," Dicky mumbled. "I'm gonna go outside."

"Where?"

"To town."

"Be back by eight, okay."

"'Kay."

Dicky strutted into the hall, slipped his feet into his shoes, and opened the front door. He went out into the Australian summer weather, and the heatwave they were trapped in hit him like a baseball in the face. Completely ignoring it, he strode up the road of terraced houses. The family lived close to the major part of town; the plaza, so walking there was no burden. It was the same walking distance as it was walking from Boulder Academy to Get Sporty.

In just five minutes, Dicky was there, making his way to the breakfast café; _The Breakfast Club_. He always ate breakfast there, as their food was absolutely delicious. The staff was really nice as well. Dicky had made particularly good friends with the guy who worked behind the cash register, William.

William was a guy in his twenties, who had the very best attitude towards costumers, and made the best baloney sandwiches.

A sweet sound of a ringing bell spread through the shop as Dicky opened the door. The bell immediately put a smile on Dicky's face, as he had grown to love that sound.

"G'day Dicky!" William shouted in his Australian accent. "You're early today!"

"G'day William," Dicky mimicked while he walked up to the counter.

Only a couple of tables were already filled, with only five or six guests. It was the perfect sound level in there, not being totally silent, while you could still hear your own words.

"The usual, I suppose," William said, already grabbing the freshly baked bread.

"Yeah" Dicky chuckled.

"D'you want the baloney fresh, or slightly barbie'd?"

Dicky thought for a second, squinting his eyes at the tiny barbecue.

"Fresh," he enunciated after a couple of seconds.

"Fresh it is!" William put three slices of baloney on top of the cheese.

He quickly put on the rest of the ingredients for the café's signature baloney sandwich, before he handed it to Dicky.

"That'll be five dollars, please."

Dicky nodded to himself as he pulled out a five-dollar bill.

"Thank you very much," William said as he put the bill in the register.

The bell above the door gave a ring again, revealing someone had just entered. William looked up from the counter.

"G'day Jo!" He shouted at the person who had just entered.

"Hey Will!" A voice Dicky found very familiar answered.

He turned around, and to his shock, he immediately recognized this "_Jo"_ person.

It was a slim girl in her early twenties, with dark brown, straight hair (a few strands were colored blue). Dicky knew the smile very well, and judging by her expression, she recognized him as well.

"Oh my gosh, Dicky!" Josie Cooper shouted at the sight of her quadruplet friend.

"Josie!?" Dicky shouted back.

"What are you doing in Australia?" Josie asked, still taken back by the fact that one of the Harper quads was Down Under.

"I'm a change student," Dicky answered, looking proud of himself.

"_Ex_-change student," Josie corrected.

"Wait, wait, wait," William interrupted. "You know Josie? And Josie, you know Dicky?"

"Yeah!" Josie answered, straightening her back with a smile.

William immediately got infected, and started grinning too.

"But how?"

"I used to work at his parents' store," Josie explained.

"Then how did you end up here?" William chuckled, confused by the situation.

"I've just always wanted to live in Australia," Josie shrugged, as though she was explaining it to herself as well. In a second's notice, she was back to her conversation with Dicky. "So how are the other quads?"

"Good, I think," Dicky answered. "They're at a party that our Australian exchange student threw for them, so I'm guessing they're good," he nodded to himself.

"A party?" Josie asked, sounding a little shocked.

"I think he means a party like a birthday party," William clarified. "Not a party when you- ... - Not an adult party."

"Oh!" Josie got a relieved look on her face. It soon turned to a smile. "I remember the halloween party I DJ'd at when you were in fifth grade," she said, the happiness of nostalgia in her voice. "You were so little back then!"

"_Please,_" Dicky rolled his eyes. "I was _eleven_. It's a mature age."

He immediately dropped the matter when Josie gave him a confused look.

"So, you wanna see a picture of the others?"

Josie's jaw dropped.

"Yeah!"

Dicky pulled his phone out of his pocket, and swiftly entered his photo library. It didn't take two seconds for him to find a photo of Dawn, Ricky, Nicky and Britt.

"Here," he showed it to Josie.

"Oh my gosh!" Josie's hand flew up to her mouth. "Look at them! Dawn's makeup, Ricky's face - is that Nicky?!"

Dicky just laughed to himself over her shock. The nostalgic look was back on Josie's face in a few seconds.

"You've grown so much."

"I know!" Dicky nodded excitedly. "Dawn spends too much time on hair and makeup, Ricky thinks he's even more mature, and Nicky's voice cracks are hilarious!"

"Oh, I gotta hear that," Josie said in a weird voice.

"I'm gonna call him" Dicky closed the photo library app, and entered the contacts. He pressed Nicky's icon, labeled "_Nickster._"

Josie excitedly looked at his phone as he pressed _call_. Dicky turned the loudspeaker on, and they waited together for Nicky to answer (even William leaned a bit over the counter to listen in).

But no one answered. After a few tones, Dicky's call went straight to voicemail.

"Guess his phone's dead," Dicky shrugged.

What Dicky didn't know was that Nicky's phone was 100 percent alive (or maybe not at 100 percent, more like 67), and laying in the pocket of a pair of brown pants. The pants didn't belong to Nicky. They belonged to Britt.

Nicky, along with Ricky and Dawn, was already locked inside the storage room of Get Sporty.

* * *

**This story is gonna go forward and back in perspectives. We're gonna get a look at what the quads are up to, then Dicky in Australia, then back to the quads, and so on, all the way until they all get together in the end.**

**So here was the first insight into Dicky in Australia!**


	3. Trapped

**I am so inordinately sorry Rickzie Harpell! I promised I would not pull a Sergio Italico and leave for months and months without updating. I'm starting to wonder whether I should call it 'pulling a JustVilda potter' instead, because I seem to do that a lot actually. Anyway, I'm soooo sorry!**

**But now it's March 20th, which means it's my one year anniversary! So here's a chapter!**

**Review Response**

_**Ryan Harper **_**\- Dicky wouldn't be Dicky if he wasn't a little dumb. And I don't know about you, but I ****_always _****use ugly pictures for my contacts.  
That was kind of what I did when I had them mention the smoothies. I wanted you to get an idea of when they called him.  
Thank you!  
And no, Josie doesn't work at the breakfast place, but she is a regular there. William mentioned that Dicky came early that day. Josie usually comes to get her breakfast before Dicky arrives, that's why they haven't seen each other earlier. Oooooh, that sounds promising. You're the master of this story, so you decide.**

_**VeronicaWeasley -**_** Same! Josie was awesome! I'm sad she left. I'm also happy I brought her back. Today is sadly not the day where you'll be reading about Australia-Dicky, because this chapter will focus on the kidnapped quads.**

_**Supermikeyninjalady -**_** Thank you so much! Your waiting is now over. Here's a chapter!**

**Now for the chapter!**

* * *

The three quads ran up to the storage room door.

"Britt!" Dawn shouted as she banged her hand against the thick door.

"Let us out!" Nicky yelled.

All they got in response from the other side was a chuckle.

"Way too late for that, quads," Britt's voice answered them.

"I'm giving you one more chance to open this door, Britt!" Dawn roared.

"What are you planning on doing if I don't open it?" Britt plainly asked.

Dawn quieted down. She had not thought out that part at all. Britt seemed to have realized this, as he laughed to himself again.

"Why would you even want to kidnap us?" Ricky asked, pretty calmly given his situation.

"To take over your lives," Britt answered in a tone which could just as well be talking about the weather. "I thought you already had that part figured out."

"But _why_ do you want to take over our lives?" Ricky continued his questioning.

"Why do you _think_ I'm doing it?" Britt calmly said.

The quads quickly looked at each other.

"To take over Get Sporty?"

"To steal our friends?"

"You got it, quads!" Britt congratulated them.

"Well, our friends won't support you in this!" Nicky shouted.

"Trust me, I know that," Britt snorted. "That's why I'm not telling them. Bye quads!"

"No!" Dawn slammed her fist against the door again while Britt's footsteps got quieter and quieter.

"Don't leave us here!" Nicky cried.

Britt ignored them.

"Britt!" Dawn bellowed, even angrier than before. She kicked her foot hard to the door. It was obvious it caused her pain, but her frustration took it out.

The three quads stood staring at the door for a few moments. It was safe to say that they had never wished so much for a door to open. Dawn breathed heavily and angrily. She glared at the door with eyes that could kill, and practically looked ready to murder someone. Ricky looked a bit frozen. Not frozen in fear, but just frozen in place. His eyebrows were turned down in confusion, and his mind looked like it was going a thousand miles per hour. Nicky seemed to be having a quiet panic attack. His eyes were wide open, and his chest was pumping up and down quickly in small motions.

"How could we fall for this?" Ricky asked.

"We fell for this because you wouldn't turn over the freaking list!" Dawn barked at him.

"I see no reason for an evil mastermind to write one point of a list on the back side!" Ricky shouted back.

"And why is that!?" Dawn turned around to face Ricky.

"Because it's stupid!"

"It's stupid to refuse to turn over a list to simply check for anything more!"

"So you're just putting all of this on me!?"

"Yes, actually! I am!"

"Guys! Calm down!" Nicky shouted.

Dawn and Ricky had slowly been approaching each other, and now they looked close to throwing fists.

"We can't put all the blame on _one_ of us," Nicky reasoned. "Remember, we're in here together, and we can't escape each other, so let's not fight."

"Well, you have to admit he's part of the blame for not letting us check the back," Dawn glared daggers at Ricky.

"Yes, that was not that smart, but _let's not fight_," Nicky admitted. "We all have parts of the blame we have to put on ourselves."

Dawn rolled her eyes and muttered "fine". Ricky did the same.

"You're both good?" Nicky cautiously asked.

"Yeah," Dawn said. Ricky nodded.

The three of them went on to stand in silence. Their newly arrived situation was a lot to take in. They barely knew anything about it. All they were sure of was that they had misjudged Britt, and that they were now stuck in the storage room. Even though Dawn had agreed that they all had their own parts of the blame, she still discreetly glared at Ricky. She knew with herself that she really did blame it on him.

"So... what do we do now?" Ricky asked.

"No idea...," Nicky shrugged, looking at the ground.

They looked around in the room, trying to spot anything that could help them get out. There was only the chair they had tied Britt to earlier, some peanut butter on the floor and all the things that usually were in there.

In the moment, there was nothing they could do except sigh at their misfortune.

* * *

Britt walked away from the storage room door, grinning to himself. He could hear Dawn yell his name, followed by a loud bang, which presumably came from someone punching or kicking the door.

When he woke up in the storage room earlier, he almost thought he'd been exposed. Light panic hit him when he found himself tied to a chair in the storage room, and it just increased when the quads when the quads said they knew his plan. He had quickly told them that the party was for them, as his plan read. The being tied to a chair in the storage room was just an unexpected side track. Luckily for him, the quads totally fell for everything he said. Now they were the ones trapped inside.

Britt reached the stairs. Before turning around to walk back into the party in the café, he put on his best confused face. Wearing a face with turned down eyebrows and a slightly open mouth he walked past the stairs. No one seemed to have noticed his or the quads' absence. It was perfect.

"Hey guys," he loudly said when entering the café. "has anyone seen the quads?"

Everyone in the café looked around. They turned to each other to ask the same question, but obviously, no one could see Dawn, Ricky or Nicky.

"No," Natlee shrugged.

"That's too bad. I was just going to bring out the thank-you presents," Britt said, sounding convincingly down.

"They'll show up," Sadie reassured, gesturing with her hand a bit. "I mean, we all know the Harper quads wouldn't leave their own party."

"True," Dooley nodded.

"So then we'll wait for them," Britt happily announced.

He walked in further into the café, and sat down at the table where Natlee, Dooley and Avery sat.

"So how's the party?" he asked.

"It's so grayt," Avery said, in the usual valley girl accent. Natlee quickly translated it to "_it's so great_".

"Well, thanks Avery," Britt politely smiled. "I definitely think our efforts were worth it."

"They totally were," Dooley said. "I'm glad everyone's getting good use of the milkshake machine."

Dooley had managed to get them a milkshake machine for the party.

"I'm stoked you got one of those," Britt nodded towards the machine. "Speaking of it; I'ma go get myself a shake."

He rose from the table and started walking over to the milkshake machine. There was only one person there currently, and that was Mae. Britt stopped about half a meter from her and waited while she got her milkshake.

"Hey Mae," he greeted her.

"Hey Britt!" she happily replied. "Have you found Dawn? She's not tried this yet," she spoke in a tone as to say Dawn not trying the milkshake was stupid. "and she's gotta get some."

"Sadly, I haven't," Britt lied.

Just then, one of the phones in his back pocket started buzzing.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just gotta...," he quickly pulled out the buzzing phone. It was Nicky's. Dicky was calling him.

Britt pressed the red call button, but still put the phone up to his ear.

"Hi Nicky," he started faking the call. "d'you want anything?"

For a few seconds, he was quiet, pretending he was getting an answer from the other end. Meanwhile, Mae watched, curious to know where the quads had gone.

"You're going home?" Britt turned his eyebrows down in fake confusion. "Bummer... The party was just getting started!... Are Dawn and Ricky also feeling bad?... Blimey... Well, I'll see you later at your house."

He took the phone from his ear and pretended to press 'end call'.

"The quads are apparently feeling sick."

"Weird," Mae frowned. "Dawn almost threw up at a party once, but she didn't leave."

Britt shrugged.

"Who knows if she actually did throw up today?" he breathed in behind gritted teeth. "I better go check the shop."

Suddenly, he had a valid reason to leave the party. There was no reason to why he wouldn't take it, so he left Mae at the milkshake machine, and went to "_go look through the shop_". Of course, he did not actually go look through the store for possible signs of Dawn being sick, but he actually left the place to go to the Harper house. It was time to meet up with Tom and Anne.

* * *

A few hours had passed since the quads were locked in the storage room. They had hunted through the room thrice in search of something that could get them out. Unfortunately, their efforts were for nothing. They didn't have anything to even _call_ a plan. The three of them were clueless on what to do. They were hungry, and were certainly getting tired. You can't say they were bored in there, because they had so much on their mind to worry and think about, but they were certainly restless. Each of them wanted something to do to distract themselves from their tragic situation. Since they were stuck in a small room with nothing but trash it was hard to come up with something though.

There was still a discreet argument about whose fault all this was. Or rather, whether it was all Ricky's fault or not. Ricky and Dawn were on one side of the room, silently hissing arguments at each other, while Nicky was on the other side, distancing himself from it. He was still active in trying to find a way out.

"You do realize how things could have turned out if we turned over the list?" Dawn asked, just to make herself sure Ricky wasn't getting stupid.

"Yeah...," Ricky sighed. He had already been asked twenty similar questions, and was getting really tired of it.

"We wouldn't be here," Dawn pointed out.

"I know that, Dawn," Ricky enunciated. In his mind, Dawn was the stupid one, who did not understand that he understood his mistake. "But you could also have been less naive."

"When?"

"When Britt told us to come here."

"We thought he wasn't suspicious anymore."

"You could have told someone we were going here."

"So could you have!"

"Guys!" Nicky shouted from the other side, his tone of voice revealing how tired he was of the arguing. In the last hour, he had shouted across the room at least five times.

Dawn and Ricky gave loud sighs and looked away from each other in nothing short of disgust. They had had enough of each other long ago, and were uncontrollably just making it worse. Nicky was also sick of them. He wasn't involved in the argument, as he actively made sure he wasn't too close to them. It still affected him though, seeing as he couldn't get further than ten meters away from them.

"It's just hard you know," Dawn said after a few minute's silence. "You don't know what it's like... being kidnapped"

Just a couple of years ago, Dawn had been kidnapped while being on a quick run-away from home. This time was obviously a lot different from that time. Two years ago she was kidnapped by an adult man, and got driven around in Colorado for a month while being used as a hostage to get money from people. Now she was kidnapped by a fifteen-year-old who planned on taking over their lives. Her first time being kidnapped she was being used as an object, while now the situation threatened her life. She was in worse conditions a couple years ago, but she felt more scared for her family this time.

The other two quads turned quiet. They looked down at the ground.

Dawn's statement was true. They didn't know what it was like. They didn't know the fear, they didn't know the constant hunger and tiredness, and they didn't know the longing for freedom...

"But... this is different," Nicky said. "Britt doesn't have a knife. He hasn't threatened us."

"We don't know if he has a knife," Dawn told. "C Four first took the knife out on the third day."

"She's right," Ricky nodded. "We've only been here for a couple of hours. Britt's only showed his face when he threw us in here."

Ricky wasn't able to believe his timing, for just as he uttered the last sentence, the lock on the door clicked, and the door flew open. Tom and Anne stood in the doorway. For a few sweet seconds, the quads thought this experience would only last for a few hours. They were wrong...

"Kids?" Anne asked when she spotted the quads.

"What are you doing here?" Tom asked, sounding puzzled.

"Oh, they're doing the same thing as you," Britt said from the outside, cutting off Dawn, who was about to speak. Not a second later, the door was slammed shut, and Britt locked the door.


	4. Missed or Ignored

**Woooow, I'm back already! Fireworks! I don't have anything more to say so let's just get to ****Review Responses.**

_**Ryan Harper - **_**I had basically forgotten my stories too, as you may have noticed. And then I forgot again because I started working on my ASOUE stories. But now I'm here, because of your birthday request. Happy Birthday! Hope you've been having a great time today!  
I'm staying as safe as I possibly can, and that will be easier now that I've got summer break.  
Good job you! Yay!  
Oooooooh, that's a good idea.  
I'm gonna make that happen!**

_**VeronicaWeasley -**_** Indeed it did. It's all on Dicky now...**

**Now for the real chapter.**

* * *

After a long chat, a couple of sandwiches, and a walk through the heatwave in town, Dicky and Josie parted ways as Dicky noticed he was already considerably late back to the house. He had tried multiple times to call each of the three other quads, but none of their phones seemed to be alive. Either that or they were just ignoring them; though Dicky had ruled out that possibility. They never ignored his calls or messages.

When Dicky reached the door of his temporary house, he pushed down the doorknob very slowly. This way it didn't make a lot of noise. Sticking to the same strategy of being as quiet as a mouse, he opened and closed the door. His reasons for being so quiet were unclear, as they would neither benefit him nor land him in more trouble. Neither did it work, as the second he was inside the daughter of the Australian family, Mia, said loudly, "Hey Dicky!"

"Hey!" he shouted back as he kicked off his shoes in a careless manner. This made even more noise, and so his reasons for opening the door quietly became even more unclear.

"Mum's left," Mia said casually. "Tol' me to tell you to clean out your room."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Dicky lied very unconvincingly.

"Mum won' pay for your lollies if she finds it muddled," Mia continued speaking.

Dicky stopped hurrying to his room in order to think about Mia's statement. He tried extra hard to remember how much money he had.

"I'll clean," he said, half meaning it, half lying to get away.

"Catch you later," Mia gave him a half-hearted wave from the couch. Not once in during their quick conversation had she turned her head away from the television.

Dicky ran the last few steps down the corridor, and into his room. His phone was out of his pocket before he had even closed the door, and just as quickly had he gone to call Ricky. Several beeps echoed in his ear before Ricky's bored voice said, "I'm sorry, but it seems I'm not able to answer your phone call right now. Just lea-," Dicky hung up.

He was starting to get seriously weirded out. It was one thing that Nicky didn't answer; he rarely did. Dawn was a toss of the dice as her answering patterns depended on her mood and current feelings about the person calling her. But Ricky _always_ answered unless his phone was dead, which it never was. Ricky was surprisingly good at keeping his phone fully charged. Dicky made the assumption that they were just wrapped up in party activities.

He considered actually cleaning his room for a hot second. There wasn't like he had anything else to entertain himself with. He seized the closest thing that Brittany would label as _part of the mess_. It was a fallen pillow from the bed, which had somehow ended up on top of the dresser. Dicky strolled over and placed it on the bed. He felt a strong gravitation towards the comfy disarrangement of blanket and pillows, and before he knew it, he was sitting on top of the pile, phone in hand, scrolling through Snapblap meme accounts.

* * *

"'Ey, d'you wan' noodles or pizza from yesterday?" Mia threw the door to Dicky's room open without knocking.

Dicky was immediately snapped out of his light slumber he had fallen into.

"What?" he said groggily.

"Noodles or pizza?" Mia repeated. "I'm making lunch."

"Pizza," Dicky answered. He sat up to rub his eyes.

"Right," Mia disappeared.

Dicky grabbed his phone, which had slid out of his hand when he fell asleep. After unlocking it, he was met with his thread of texts with Dawn. The latest text was a meme he had sent her a couple of hours ago. He had sent the same meme to all three of his fellow quads, but none of them had answered. _Weird_, he thought. His clock showed 11:30, which meant it had to be around eight pm in America. The party ought to have ended...

Without high expectations, Dicky went to call Dawn again. He was met with Dawn's quick "_Can't answer now, leave a message_!", and put his phone down. Then another thought hit him.

_Wouldn't mom have called me right about now? She always calls in the evening to check that I'm alright._

Dicky quickly called Anne, but was met with the same disappointing result as when he called the quads. The same thing happened with Tom. His next instinct was to call Josie, whose number he had gotten earlier. He only had to wait a couple of seconds before Josie's cheerful voice said; "Hi Dicky!"

"Hey Jose," he answered calmly, pretending to be less worried than he was. "They're _still_ not answering."

"Maybe their phones are dead," Josie suggested what Dicky had already thought.

"Probably," Dicky said, shrugging to himself. "Surprised Ricky's is. He's always _too_ careful to have it charged all the time."

Mia burst through the door again, with so much force and haste as if she was about to tell him that the house was on fire. Instead of doing that though, she told him simply; "I reckon your pizza's done." She then seemed to notice he was on the phone. "Got hold of the quads of yours?"

"Nah, this is Josie," Dicky answered simply. "All the quads' phones are dead, and so are my parents' phones."

"All of 'em? Sounds a bit strange, doesn't it?" Mia furrowed her brow. "I mean tha' is five phones, all dead a' once."

Dicky wasn't sure what to answer, so he kept quiet.

"Reckon it could 'appen though," Mia shrugged and turned to walk out of the room, abandoning the conversation.

"Yeah...," Dicky told the air in the room.

"What's happening?" Josie asked quickly, sounding very confused. Dicky had for a second forgotten he was on the phone.

"Nothing," Dicky said. "But it's pizza time, so I have to hang up."

"Oh, that's fine," Josie said, and Dicky could picture her nodding in her always cheerful manner.

Dicky then hung up the phone and pushed his dazed body off the bed. He went out the door Mia had left open and joined her in the kitchen.

"Tha' is very greasy," Mia said out into the air when she opened the microwave containing Dicky's leftover pizza.

"Ooh!" Dicky burst out as he leaped to Mia and the pizza. "Grease!"

"Are you gonna eat the grease?" Mia asked doubtfully, sounding like the sole question disgusted her. "It's jus' fat."

"Delicious fat," Dicky pointed out to her, his mouth already sloppily devouring the very greasy slice of pizza. He licked the running grease off his fingers.

"You jus' become stranger ev'ry day, I swear," Mia turned away from Dicky, still sounding baffled and a bit grossed out.

"You shound li Wricky," Dicky spoke irritably the best he could through the pizza in his mouth. He swallowed the piece in his mouth, took a short second to enjoy it. Suddenly he got an idea, which he wasn't sure why it hadn't hit him earlier. "I'll be back."

He sprinted to his room and plucked his phone from his bed. Soon he was on the phone again.

"Hi Dicky!"

"Hey Mae," Dicky said quickly, hurrying to get to the point. "Where are Nicky, Ricky and Dawn?"

"Britt said they went home," Mae answered hesitantly. "Why are you asking?"

"It's been three hours and Dawn hasn't answered my phone call," Dicky said sternly. "I've called her multiple times since then, but she's not answering."

"What? Are you sure you haven't missed her calling?" Mae asked. There was a tone to her voice that told Dicky his sudden seriousness had put her on edge.

"Positive," Dicky answered, loosening up a bit. "Can you try calling her?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'll do that," Mae replied anxiously.

The same thoughts ran through her head as when Dawn hadn't answered Dicky. _Dawn always answered unless she was in a bad mood, but Mae was an exception. Dawn always answered Mae. _

There were only a few people left at the party at Get Sporty. It was barely a party anymore. Just a few people sitting in the colorfully decorated cafe. Mae sat and chatted with Miles, Avery, Dooley and Natlee. Britt was a few meters away, cleaning up a few cups people had left around. The people at the table had listened intentively as Mae spoke to Dicky.

"I have to call Dawn," Mae said hastily before switching from one quad's number to another's.

"Why?" Natlee asked in a demandingly curious manner.

Mae didn't answer. No one made a sound, until a sudden ring tone was heard in the room. Everyone's heads snapped towards Britt, who had made an action just as quickly as them. The phone in a pink phone case that had a second ago been in his pocket was now on the counter he was picking cups from.

"Blimey!" Britt said, making a gesture at it. "Dawn's left her phone!"

Mae hung up, disappointed. As she called Dicky to tell him that Dawn's phone was left at the store, Britt made sure everyone's attention was diverted from him. He then grabbed Dawn's phone and shoved it into his pocket.

It had been called several times before, but those were all when the party was still loud, and everyone was distracted. In his pocket, he turned all the phones to _do not disturb._

"Right mates," he said happily to the others. "I've gotta get home. Give Dawn her phone and stuff. Catch you later!"

"Bye dude."

"See you."

"Bye, Britt!" Natlee beamed.

Britt turned around to wave her goodbye. The second his direction was turned to the door again, his smile wore off, and he hurried out into the night.


End file.
